My Top Five Favorite Marvel Female Superheroes

Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of guy superheroes that I get excited for. I am salivating as much as the next nerd for the new Captain America movie. I just personally believe that girls can kick ass as well as the next guy. I am a Buffy fan, so this should be no surprise. Allow me to showcase some of my favorites. Some you know, and some you may not.

1. Phoenix –

Whether she’s bad or whether she’s good, Jean Grey’s incarnation or should I say several incarnations of the Phoenix is definitely a wild card for any side that wants to have her in its back pocket. There are two main schools of thought concerning the Phoenix’s origin. The first one, Jean Grey is such a bad ass mutant, or level 5 as they call it, that the Phoenix is actually the name given to her full psychic abilities and persona which had been dampened for Jean’s safety as well as pretty much everyone else by Professor X. This was the version they leaned towards in in the third X-men movie, and honestly not my favorite. The second one is of the Phoenix as a cosmic entity that uses Jean Grey as a host, and has been known to use other characters as well, the most popular being Jean. Not only do her telekinetic and telepathic abilities increase astronomically, but she gains cosmic abilities that can effect anything in the universe at a subatomic level as well as manipulate life and death like she’s changing nail polish colors. Cosmic powers pretty much trump most in a fight, but Jean has to take a page out of the Hulk’s book otherwise she just might destroy the universe during her next tantrum. Did I mention she’s been known to eat stars when she’s feeling peckish?

Carol Danvers has held many aliases over the years, her most notable being Ms. Marvel. Don’t let her name changes cloud the fact that she is one tough lady. She was formerly a pilot in the Air Force and worked as special ops for the branch after being captured and tortured during a flight test that crashed. When I say tortured, they beat the mess out of the poor woman. Injuries and all she managed to escape and deal out some payback. Why is this detail so important? This happened before she got superpowers. Ms. Marvel #32 is rough to read, but solidifies her as a badass. Due to an explosion of an alien Kree device, Carol is given powers. She can fly, has super strength, and can absorb energy, throwing it right back as a weapon. Unfortunately over the course of her life, she was kidnapped by the alien race, the Brood, tortured and experimented on turning her into the entity Binary. There was also that run-in with Rogue who held onto her just a little too long and permanently absorbed her powers and memories, leaving her in a coma. She eventually wakes up and regains her abilities, but not her memories. After all of that she fell victim to alcoholism, which honestly isn’t surprising with everything that’s happened to her. She did eventually sober up, and even had Tony Stark as her sponsor. She is currently flying under the name of Captain Marvel in honor of the original and deceased Captain Marvel. She once again becomes victim to amnesia due to her recent self-sacrifice to save New York and the world. She is definitely one awesome lady and one I hope to see on the big screen.

Jessica Drew has a couple of versions in the Marvel universe, but the most recent and well know version makes the original look like a girl scout. Jessica got her powers in the womb after her mother is exposed to an experiment on spiders. As a child, she begins displaying similar powers to the spider, such as the ability to climb up walls and an energy, venom blast coming from her hands. During a fight between her father and mother, Jessica blasts her father in order to save her mother, but the strain makes the child pass out, only to wake up from some kind of stasis as an older teenager in the welcome arms of HYDRA. She is manipulated by the organization and turned into a weapon. She eventually discovers the treachery and does a little soul searching before becoming an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. under Nick Fury, who has her become a double agent and sign up for HYDRA as well. I would say that she becomes and Avenger during this time also, but Jessica became the chosen form for the Skrull queen during their invasion of Earth because of her ties to both organizations. Jessica never made it past her recruitment of HYDRA being taken and help captive until her escape from the Skrulls along with several other heroes that were captured. She does fully join the Avengers team after her return becoming one of their most valuable characters.

Growing up watching the X-Men cartoon, Storm was just the pure impersonation of class to me. Her ability to control the weather was unquestionably formidable, but it was her clear and level mind that was often the voice of reason for the team when Professor X was not around made me admire her. She did break at times losing her temper and control over her powers every once in a while. She could be rendered useless when her severe claustrophobia attacked. The woman has a past as well. She was homeless as a child and turned to thievery to survive. When her powers began to emerge, she was treated as a goddess with the tribe in Africa that she was staying with. All were major challenges that shaped the amazingly fierce and balanced woman that she became. As much as I loved Halle Berry playing her in the film, I just don’t think the movie really showcased this important side of her. She was always a wise asset and leader when needed. It was a shame that the film couldn’t show that.

I was an X-Men fan first due to the 90’s cartoon, and Rogue was the easy choice for my number five. I learned about her living with only her mutant power of absorbing others energies and life forces after the shows ending. At the time I never realized that Rogue didn’t always have Carol Danver’s strength and power of flight her whole life. I was too entertained by her sarcasm and southern charm as she mopped the floor with the bad guys to care. Now I know better, and though the movie version was not the Rogue I wanted, it was the version that is most common. You can’t help but empathize with her over the power she has been known to refer to as a curse on more than one occasion. She can’t touch anyone meaning she can’t have any kind of real or intimate relationship with anyone. Cuddling is high risk with her. Anytime a cure is mentioned, it’s no wonder she’s the first one to jump. Even though I was bummed to hear Anna Paquin’s scenes in the next X-Men film were dramatically cut. I was hoping that we would get a post Carol Danver’s version of Rogue, who is honestly a little handier in a fight. Alas, I guess I’ll just have to wait till the Blu-ray comes out to see those special features.